Members of the British Royal Family typically only wear tiaras to formal state banquets, coronations and diplomatic receptions these days. But in the earlier decades of her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth had many more opportunities to wear a tiara. Whether it was a night at the opera or a movie premiere, the young Queen—who took the throne at the age of just 25—was often seen in sparkling diamond tiaras. One such diadem no longer exists, however, and the reason makes a lot of sense.
In 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad, India, gave Queen Elizabeth an incredible gift for her wedding to Prince Philip. The Nizam instructed Elizabeth to choose what she liked from Cartier, and she selected a floral-themed diamond tiara and one of the most incredible necklaces in the royal collection. The Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace features approximately 300 diamonds, per the Royal Collection Trust, and the late Queen wore the diamond piece and its matching tiara to the 1952 Royal Variety Performance.
Queen Elizabeth was also pictured in the tiara during her 1951 tour of Canada, but it was during a state banquet in Ottawa that she realized there was a problem with the Cartier design.
Per The Court Jeweller, a 1951 Canadian newspaper story revealed that Elizabeth feared her tiara “was going to fall into the soup” during the banquet. Since it was difficult to keep on her head, the late Queen eventually decided to dismantle the tiara and make a new piece.
She used the diamonds to form the Burmese Ruby Tiara in 1973, which was created by Garrard. Like the Cartier tiara from the Nizam of Hyderabad, it also features a rose-themed design—but instead of diamonds, the Burmese Ruby Tiara features flowers made from 96 rubies that were gifted to Elizabeth from the people of Burma on her wedding day.
However, three parts of the original Cartier tiara were kept intact. Since the central rose design and two smaller flowers could be removed and worn as brooches, Queen Elizabeth continued to do just that. The late Queen often wore the largest rose brooch at royal events and paired the two smaller ones together while celebrating her Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
As for the Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace, it's found new life on Princess Kate. The Princess of Wales is the only other royal woman to have worn the late Queen's jaw-dropping necklace, which is reportedly worth as much as $87 million. Kate borrowed the piece for a 2014 gala at the National Portrait Gallery and again for the 2019 Diplomatic Corps reception—here's hoping she wears it again soon.
